Could the Rules of
Online Reputation Management
be Changing for Dentists?
practice marketing
by Neil Rudoff
For a few years now, dentists have heard that positive online
reviews of their practice are an excellent way to support their online
marketing efforts and give their practice a leg up against competition. And they most certainly are! Each day, thousands of people
search sites like Yelp.com and Angie’s List for user recommendations on services; including which restaurant to take their family
to and which dentist to book their next appointment with. But
unfortunately, along with the benefits that a positive online review
can give a dental practice, many dentists remain wary of soliciting
their patients for online testimonials, because with the prospect of
glowing reviews, there is also the threat of scathing criticism. After
all, negative reviews can be damaging to a dental practice, can live
online indefinitely and have the potential to be read by many
potential patients.
Whether it’s warranted or not, people just seem to want to take to
the masses (which these days, is online review sites and social
media), and shout it from the mountain tops that they’ve been
wronged. We see it time and time again, particularly with the
advent of review opportunities on social media sites like Facebook
and their ability to tag your profile in their review. It seems that
the power is all in the hands of the patient, right? For the majority,
yes it still is, but based on a few recent legal cases, the tide could
be turning in your favor, dentists. Here’s why:
In a recent Virginia appeals court ruling, Yelp.com was ordered to
reveal the identities of seven users who wrote negative reviews of a
local carpet cleaning business. While Yelp and several First
Amendment advocates didn’t like this ruling, it may set a precedent
that disallows anonymity in online reviews, which could curb
instances of wrongful, false or inaccurate bad reviews (i.e., bad
reviews that are untrue).
In Arizona, two surgeons recently won a $12 million lawsuit against
a patient who created an entire website of bad reviews about them.
What this means for dental practices, is you may not be at the total
mercy of a patient’s online review. In the unfortunate event that
you do receive an unfair negative review, litigation is probably a
bad route to go and we certainly don’t recommend it. But, what
the carpet cleaning and surgeon cases tell us, is that the courts may
16 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com
not believe the customer is always right and be open to giving some
online reputation protection to business owners. In short, the
courts say consumers (and patients) should “Yelp” at their own risk.
What’s next for dentists?
While this legal stance against wrongful negative reviews is a good
step in the right direction, it’s so important that dentists still have
a strong, proactive online reputation management plan in place for
their practice. Why? Because whether they are warranted or not,
online reviews have incredible capability to influence the opinions
of your potential and current patients – even those that are referred
to you. Consider these statistics from a 2014 Bright Local survey:
88%
of people trust online reviews as much as
a personal recommendation.
72%
of consumers contact a local business
after reading online reviews
72%
of consumers say positive online reviews
make them trust a local business.
Plain and simple, online reviews have power.
An unprotected online reputation is an unsatisfied patient or exemployee’s playground. Real damage can be done to your practice
if it’s left unprotected and to a dentist, reputation is everything.
But, it’s easy to ignore something that hasn’t even happened yet.
Your reputation may be pristine now and you can do everything to
keep it that way, but that doesn’t mean bad reviews don’t happen.
Patients give less than stellar reviews about their dentist for many
reasons and in some cases; they can be incredibly one-sided and
unjustified.